The OBR Daily News & World Report

John Taylor

04/06/2007

Due to an overwhelming public outcry, the DN&WR has returned! OK, that's stretching it a bit. A few people have requested its return. OK, OK, OK, one person has requested it. Thanks Mom. Anyway, the DN&WR is back. Woo-hoo?!?!

The latest news on the Trent Green situation is not actually news, but rather confirmation of what most thought was rather common knowledge: that the Browns would look to rework Green's contract if/when he was traded by the Chiefs.

In an interview with WTAM—"The Most Official of Officialest Flagship Stations"—yesterday morning, general manager Phil Savage stated that his club would put together a ballpark contract as a means to gauge Green's interest in coming to Cleveland.

Green's current contract calls for the veteran QB to make $7.2 million in 2007, $7.7 million in 2008, and $9.2 million in 2009. Those salaries are prohibitive for a younger player, let alone a 36-year-old signal caller—who will turn 37 before the start of training camp—coming off a serious concussion that forced him to miss half the season last year.

Also in the interview, Savage reiterated that no deal for Green was imminent, and that if anything were to happen it probably wouldn't occur until right before the draft.

While a new contract for Green could be an issue in consummating a trade, perhaps the biggest obstacle in any deal is the compensation that the Chiefs are seeking.

In the last couple of weeks, Kansas City has turned down a seventh-round pick offered by the Dolphins for Green. The Dolphins later upped that offer to a sixth rounder, but, again, the Chiefs would not bite. It's thought that the Chiefs are (snicker) seeking (chuckle) a second-round pick (ROTFL!) for Green's services.

Short of Matt Millen and the Detroit Lions, it's not believed that any front office in the league possesses the acumen of a door knob, which thereby precludes anyone from offering what the Chiefs are seeking.

Including the Browns.

Incidentally, news of the Browns' interest in Green was first reported by crack Kansas City-area reporter Carl Peterson, who also moonlights as the president of the Chiefs.

As if it actually stood a chance of happening, you can officially close the book on the possibility of David Carr coming to Cleveland as the quarterback has reached an agreement on a contract with the Panthers.

(Do not be alarmed. That sound you may have heard was simply a massive, collective sigh of relief coming from the majority of Browns fans in Northeast Ohio.)

(And why does starting off a story with the words "As if…" make it seem like my 14-year-old daughter is the author?)

While neither the team nor Carr's agent would comment on the signing, the Charlotte Observer, citing a league source, reports the two sides had agreed on a two-year deal. It was widely believed that Carr would not sign with any club until closer to the draft or, even likelier, after the draft.

It was also believed that the club preferred Joey Harrington, who visited the club earlier this week, over Carr, but that turned out to not be the case. Harrington was a target of Savage last off-season, but landed in Miami after he refused a Browns' request to restructure his contract.

It's been rumored that the Browns had an interest in Carr—with one Cleveland-area television station going so far as to report that a deal was "imminent" in the days before his release from the Texans—although that interest could be described as "peripheral" at best.

The club did their due diligence on the QB, but were never serious contenders for fifth-year veteran.

Carr, the first-overall pick of the 2002 draft, also visited with the Seahawks and had spoken with the Raiders.

Russell and Peterson visited the club on Wednesday, while Quinn reportedly visited Wednesday night—dining with team officials—and part of Thursday.

As is the norm, the Browns did not make any of the threesome available to the media and would not even confirm that they visited.

This is part of the club's long-standing policy of offering very little confirmation on anything substantive, including such national security hot-button issues as free-agent visits, whether water is indeed wet, and whether the team still actually goes by the name of "the Cleveland Browns".

Speaking of the Raiders and quarterbacks—which I did earlier but it's been awhile so I wanted to give everyone a little reminder—ESPN's John Clayton is reporting that the club has entered trade talks with the Lions regarding Josh McCown.

McCown is in the final year of a two-year contract signed last offseason and wants the opportunity to start somewhere. Given that the Raiders' current starter has two first names and his backup has been out of football for the last 27 years, Oakland would give McCown as good an opportunity as he could find anywhere in the league.

Additionally, the acquisition of somebody such as McCown would afford the Raiders the opportunity to draft JaMarcus Russell and park him on the sidelines for a season or two.

Or maybe, just maybe, the acquisition of the strong-armed and relatively-young McCown would give the Raiders the perfect opportunity to bypass Russell and take the player who many are beginning to believe is the club's true target: Georgia Tech wide receiver and draft "Jesus" Calvin Johnson.

Privately, Savage hopes that it's the latter paragraph, and not the former.

For those who wish for the opportunity to see both Jim Brown and Barry Sanders on the same playing field, you will now have your chance.

In an interview with the Detroit News, Sanders raved about the Hall of Famer who most have labeled as the greatest running back of all time. However, Sanders takes it one step further.

"He could have set a mark out there that could never have been touched," said Sanders of Brown's decision to retire after only nine seasons. "I think Jim Brown was maybe the best football player ever. Not just the best running back."

South Carolina offensive lineman Chris White had an individual workout with the Browns late last month and was told by the club that he's being looked at as a late second-day draft pick. The 6'4", 326-pound White can play both guard and center.

Also in for a workout earlier this week was former Alabama A&M defensive lineman Keith Lockhart. The 6'1", 305-pound White is currently a member of the Tennessee Valley Vipers, which is an indoor football team of some sort.